Bell and spigot pipe joints have become widely used for relatively low pressure liquid transport systems because the bell and spigot joint obviates the necessity for welding or threading adjacent pipe sections together. In a bell and spigot system, each pipe section (except for an end section) has an enlarged diameter bell at one end and a reduced diameter spigot at the other end. Typically, the bell includes a resilient seal member disposed circumferentially about its inner surface such that, when the spigot of an adjacent pipe section is introduced into the bell and the two pipe sections are pulled together, the outer diameter of the spigot closely engages the inner diameter of the seal to complete the coupling process.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that one long standing difficulty associated with laying bell and spigot coupled pipe systems is the difficulty in carrying out the repetitive task of pulling adjacent pipe sections together. Since there is considerable frictional engagement between the spigot and seal within the bell and further in view of the fact that the pipe sections (particularly in the larger sizes) are very heavy, this operation cannot be readily carried out without a special tool. As a result, a number of special tools have been developed for the specific purpose of pulling adjacent pipe sections in a bell and spigot coupled system together, and some of the special purpose tools have been the subject of United States patents. Among such prior art tools adapted to make up bell and spigot joints are those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,501,055; 4,178,668; 3,998,819; 3,571,896; 3,471,919; 3,373,477; 3,281,929; 3,270,406; 3,257,714; and 3,096,572.
While all these prior art tools have the capacity for carrying out their intended function, each is subject to one or more practical problems which include: complexity (many requiring assembly and disassembly for each pipe joint made), very heavy weight, accommodation to only a single size pipe (thus requiring an array of differently sized tools to handle pipes with diameters ranging from a few inches to several feet), limitation to use with only a single type of pipe, difficult operation, etc. My invention is directed to a special purpose tool which efficiently performs its intended purpose and suffers from none of the afore-mentioned drawbacks.